


Empathy

by kiranightshade



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Stiles, Empath Stiles Stilinski, Kidnapping, M/M, Pre-Slash, Season/Series 01, Stiles Stilinski Gets Bitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25438081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiranightshade/pseuds/kiranightshade
Summary: Stiles is an empath. One touch, no matter how fleeting, is all it takes to feel everything any one person is feeling at that moment.He has never felt this much before.
Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 31
Kudos: 762





	Empathy

Stiles is an empath. One touch, no matter how fleeting, is all it takes to feel everything any one person is feeling at that moment. 

He has never felt this much before. 

Lydia is bleeding, unconscious, on the grass of the lacrosse field. The dance feels a million miles away, and Peter is touching him. 

Rage, grief, pain, so much pain, determination, hatred, desperation. It all courses through him all at once and it’s so much. Too much. 

Stiles’ knees buckle, and then everything goes black. 

*** 

Stiles groans awake. He’s in a car. Peter is driving. 

“Fuck,” Stiles says because now what is he supposed to do? Kill Peter? He can’t let that happen. Not anymore. 

“I see you’re awake. Have a nice nap?”

“What do you want with me? Scott isn’t going to help you.”

“He will, but that isn’t why you’re here.” Peter parks. They’re at an old parking garage. They’re alone. 

“I need you’re help, Stiles.” Peter continues as he drags Stiles out of the car and to the back, “You are going to find Derek.”

“How the hell am I going to do that?”

“You’re a smart boy,” Peter says. He opens the trunk to reveal a corpse. Stiles gags.

“Oh god. A little warning next time!”

Peter pulls out a laptop and closes the trunk. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

*** 

Stiles stands alone with bent keys and a bleeding wrist for a while after Peter leaves. Stiles doesn’t know if letting Peter bite him was the best way to go about things, but it’s too late to change it now. Stiles finds something to wrap his wrist in in his jeep and puts it to the back of his mind. He needs to make sure Lydia is ok, and then he needs to do something about the Argents. 

Getting to the hospital takes longer than he’d like, but at least Jackson is able to get him up to speed when he gets there. Chris Argent ambushing him is less fun but at least productive. 

Stiles looks at Chris as he pins him to the wall and remembers the burning. Righteous anger that isn’t entirely his own bubble to the surface. He doesn’t think about it before he snarls at Chris, accuses him. Chris notices his wrist and backs away. Stiles hates the sadness in his eyes. 

“Contrary to popular belief, we didn’t set that fire.”

“Don’t.” Stiles bites out. “Don’t you dare look at me like I’ve lost something, and don’t you dare pretend like your ignorance makes you innocent.”

Stiles shoves his way out the door. 

“What the fuck was that, Stilinski?” Jackson says as he follows him. 

“You drive here?”

“Yeah.” 

“Good. You want to know what’s going on? Keys. Now.”

“Like hell am I—”

Stiles rips off his glove and grabs Jackson’s shoulder, pushing the shirt aside to get to the skin, and pushes just a touch of fear into him. 

“Keys.”

Jackson hands them over. 

*** 

Stiles drives recklessly and gets to the Hale house in time to see Peter fully shifted in the front yard. Kate is nowhere to be seen, but Scott, Derek, Allison, and Chris are surrounding Peter. Jackson and him stumble out of the car. Stiles pulls out the gun he stole from his dad, but keeps it aimed at the ground. 

Peter snarls at Allison. He looks like he’s about to attack. “Peter,” Stiles warns. “Peter!” he yells again when he doesn’t respond. 

Stiles steps closer but it only aggravates Peter more. “Shoot him,” Scott yells but Stiles doesn’t listen. 

Peter lunges for Allison. Stiles shoots, hitting Peter in the shoulder. It doesn’t do much more than startle Peter but it’s enough for Stiles to run over and touch him. 

Stiles less touches Peter than rams into him. He doesn’t pay attention to any of the shouting around him, only focusing on the rush of pain and fire and rage as he buries his face into Peter’s fur. He takes it and shoves it from his mind, burying it deep so he can focus on one emotion. 

“Calm.” He says and shoves it towards Peter with all his strength. Peter freezes against him and for a few long seconds nobody does anything. 

Stiles lets out a relieved breath when he feels Peter shrinking against him. His fur recedes until smooth skin is pressed against his cheek and then he has a naked man holding him close. Peter is still hurting but it’s under control and Stiles lets that control feed into them both. 

“Allison!” Scott yells. Stiles looks up to see a crossbow in her hands that wasn’t before aimed at them. 

Stiles raises his gun and shoots the crossbow, knocking it out of her hands. He keeps it aimed at her, ready to move to Chris if he tries anything. “Don’t.” he says. “The alpha is handled. You can run along now.” 

When they don’t leave, Stiles shoots the ground close by. “That wasn’t a request.”

Allison stumbles back, looking on the edge of running away, but Chris only starts to walk back slowly. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Stiles.”

Stiles just stares them down until they leave. 

“Did he bite you?” Derek asked. Stiles almost jumps. He forgot Derek was even there.

“Yeah. Dude could use some betas that could be convinced not to kill him. Thought I could help.”

“He killed Laura. He lured her here!”

“Is that why you tried to kill me?” Peter said. “I never wanted to kill her. I was pissed off and wanted to confront her. Get her to abdicate. I didn’t think she would try to kill me.” 

“You’re lying.” Scott says. 

“Does it sound like I’m lying?” Peter says, and Stiles remembers that wolves can hear heartbeats. 

Derek just stares for a while. Long enough that Stiles can’t take the tension and just steps up to him, touching his bare hand to Derek’s arm. Fear, anger, and confusion flow into him and just a tiny bit of hope. “It’s ok,” Stiles says. “You don’t have to figure this out tonight.” 

Derek looks at him and says, “For once, I agree with Chris. I really hope you know what you’re doing.” Before taking off. 

Peter takes off as well, shifting fully again after a comment about it getting a bit cold without a fur coat. Leaving Stiles, Jackson, and Scott. 

Stiles yawns. “Jeezus. I’ve done so much today. I deserve a small coma after all this.”

Scott doesn’t laugh. “That could have been my only chance to get the cure.”

“What are you talking about? I thought we established that there was no cure.”

“Derek said…”

“You mean when Derek was trying and failing to get you to help him? Yeah ok. I’m going home. Jackson, you wanna ride?”

“It’s my car, jackass.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Stiles says, swinging the keys once as he makes his way to the driver’s seat. 

“We’re not done!” Scott yells. 

“We are tonight.” Stiles says after he’s closed the door. “I’m way too exhausted with everyone’s emotions to hash this out with you.”

He doesn’t hear whatever Scott is saying through the door, but whatever it is isn’t very happy. That’s ok. They have tomorrow to talk. Tonight, Stiles is going to sleep and then he is going to the hospital to make sure Lydia wakes up to a friendly face. 

“So,” Jackson says from the passenger seat. “Are we going to mention the fact that you faceplanted into a giant monster and lived?”

Stiles laughs. “Oh man, I needed that.” 

“Seriously though, what the fuck?”

“Why do you think I wear so many layers and the gloves? You’ve been making Elsa jokes for two years and you have no idea what I did back there? I joke but you do have a brain under there, don’t you? Or are really just a pretty face after all?”

“Don’t tell me you used secret ice powers to save our asses.”

“No, but I did use secret emotion magic to save us. I’m sure you can remember just how effective they can be.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means,” Stiles says as he parks the car. “I’m an empath, and if you really can’t remember me using it on you a few hours ago, then I’m concerned.”

“And what does that mean?” Jackson says, pointing to Stiles’ wrist.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just be a werewolf now. Maybe I’ll be both. Or maybe I’ll be discovering new abilities. Or maybe I’ll die. Night’s not over.” 

Stiles hands over the car and heads inside. His dad isn’t home, so he heads upstairs unobstructed and just passes out the moment he gets close enough to land on his bed. 

His bite heals within the hour.


End file.
